Before before before after after after[Reason for surgery] Hello! I had two-jaw surgery and three types of facial contouring surgery (cheekbones, square jaw, and chin) on December 14, 2022. I had orthodontic treatment from elementary school through middle school because of malocclusion, but as I became an adult my occlusion became misaligned again, so I ended up having surgery.
[Reason for choosing the hospital] I chose it because I trusted the director’s surgical skill! I had been very interested in two-jaw surgery since college, so I went around to consultations at various hospitals, and while consulting with the director, I somehow felt trust. I had a feeling that if I did it here, the surgery would go well. And after watching surgical results of people who had surgery at Y Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery on YouTube, I decided because it matched the direction I wanted.
[4-week review] ★ Recovery process: Once I entered week 4, it felt like I had recovered about 90% subjectively. I could do almost all daily activities, and wearing the wafer felt very familiar. Now the foods I could eat gradually increased little by little, which was nice. During week 1, I couldn’t even sleep lying down, you know? If I slept lying down, my nose got more blocked, so I would wake up automatically about every 20 minutes. But by week 4, I could fall asleep well, and I’m so happy that I can sleep comfortably even lying down!
★ External changes: By week 4, I could see with my eyes that the swelling was going down day by day. Especially the day after I was very active, it felt like the swelling had gone down even more. And personally, even though I’m still only at week 4, what’s certain is that having two-jaw surgery seems much better than before surgery. I really like my face about fifty thousand times more now.
[3-month review] After 3 months, I think you can consider recovery to be truly almost complete. By month 3, even the fact that I had two-jaw surgery felt so distant that I could just do all daily activities completely. Maybe because the director did the surgery well, there’s nothing uncomfortable or bothersome. And sensation has almost all returned too.
[Meals] At 3 months, chewing became gradually more comfortable, so I can comfortably eat most foods. Still, I’m in orthodontic treatment, so I’m trying to be careful with very hard foods, and I’m mainly eating softer meats. I can now eat soft meats like bossam pretty well. Besides that, I’m eating fruits like apples sliced thinly. As time passes, the foods I can eat are increasing, and eating food is becoming more comfortable.
[External changes] By month 3, almost all of the major swelling had really gone down, so I didn’t pay much attention to it anymore! And definitely, the more the swelling goes down, the smaller the face becomes. For me, my satisfaction with two-jaw surgery definitely increased more and more as time passed!
[6-month review] After 6 months, I think it’s a stage where you’ve recovered enough to forget that you had two-jaw surgery. There’s absolutely no discomfort or pain from the two-jaw surgery, and all sensation has returned, so I feel like I’m now completely recovered. With two-jaw surgery, the degree of recovery really differs each month. If you endure the first 1 to 2 months well after surgery, from then on the recovery speed is fast, and you gradually adapt, so daily life was possible without major difficulty.
[Meals] At 6 months, all types of meals are now possible. However, when I feel my teeth moving in the middle of orthodontic treatment, there is slight pain, so at those times I eat soft noodles. I think I’ve now entered a stage where I can say I comfortably eat most foods.
[External changes] By month 6, I hardly feel any swelling. It really feels like it’s all gone! Compared with month 3, it does seem like a little more has gone down.
[1-year review] When I first had two-jaw surgery, it was more painful and difficult than I expected, so I wondered, did I think too lightly of the surgery? But now that a year has passed, the thought I had most was that if I had known it would be like this, I should have done it a bit sooner.
[Meals] After a year, it’s so comfortable that I forget I had two-jaw surgery, and eating has become really comfortable too. In the past, when I ate, there were many times when I had indigestion, but after two-jaw surgery, maybe because my occlusion fits, I can chew food well, so digestion is good, and because of that I ended up eating more. So I’m actually controlling my weight now! That’s how comfortable meals have become.
[1-year swelling changes] It definitely feels completely settled now, without even residual swelling. To my eyes, though, it is still subtly different from month 6.
[Orthodontic review] Since orthodontic treatment has somehow passed 10 months, my teeth have become aligned, and maybe because I had two-jaw surgery plus orthodontics, I feel like my face shape is being refined a bit more! Now even tightening with orthodontic elastics doesn’t really hurt much. Since I’m doing orthodontics at the hospital where I had two-jaw surgery, it was more convenient because I could receive orthodontic treatment together while checking progress.
[Wrap-up] My parents opposed it and said I looked pretty in their eyes, so I lived believing those words, but my satisfaction with the surgery is so high that the time I lived without two-jaw surgery feels wasted.
There’s no nerve damage or anything like that, and all my sensation is completely normal. I’m grateful to Director Lee Seok-jae for performing the surgery safely and well-:)